When The Clock Strikes Midnight
by Annabelle Jade
Summary: AU. Naruto and couple of his closest friends make a trip to New York City. A New Year's Eve celebration is about to take place that a certain two individuals are never going to be able to forget.


**A/N: I do not own Naruto. Review and favorite if you'd like, much appreciated! :)**

"Pervy Sage, why do you and Grandma have to be here? We were going to enjoy our New Year's party without any of you adults running around." Naruto complained as Jiraya, his teacher, face palmed his forehead.

"Naruto, did you really think we would let you wander the streets of New York City unsupervised? Remember to head back to the condo whenever you kids are done gallivanting. The key is in your back pocket. Besides, Tsunade and I wanted to go out and enjoy . . ."

"The bar!" Before Jiraya could finish his sentence, Tsunade found her prize, the bar. She proceeded to drag him across the street blocked off to through traffic and swarming with New Yorkers waltzing through the street in celebration of New Year's Eve.

Tsunade and Jiraya left Naruto, Hinata, Sakura and Gaara alone in New York City.

Sakura watched as her mentor dragged Jiraya to the bar to no doubt get smashed. She sighed as Naruto looked up at the giant ball that would drop as the countdown to the New Year started. Hinata or Gaara hadn't said a word since they got in the city.

"S-sakura?"

Sakura turned to see her shy friend Hinata bundled up in her white Eskimo coat twiddling her mitten covered fingers. "Yes Hinata, what is it?"

"I was just wondering, since we've got two hours until the countdown starts, what should we do?"

Before Sakura could answer Hinata, Naruto came bounding into their conversation putting his arms around Sakura and Hinata. "Come on guys, we're old enough, let's say we go out have a drink!"

"I'll pass." Gaara nonchalantly shrugged.

All Hinata could do to prevent herself from passing out was no shake her head no and slip out from Naruto's arm that was draped around her shoulder.

"Well Sakura, how about you?"

Sakura smiled and nodded her head. "I'm going to out drink you Naruto."

Naruto threw his free arm up in the air, fist held high. "Challenge accepted!"

Sakura turned to Hinata as she sat there twiddling her fingers. "You guys can come watch our contest if you'd like. It'll be fun!"

Hinata nodded slowly as Gaara smacked Naruto upside the head.

"Ow, what was that for?" Naruto asked, fuming as to why his friend smacked him.

"Idiot."

While Naruto and Sakura walked along the sidewalks towards the nearest club, Hinata and Gaara walked silently behind them. Hinata would occasionally glance up at the silent red head next to her. The only word he said the entire time was calling Naruto an idiot. The more she thought to herself, the more nervous she became.

With Hinata being lost in thought, and Gaara looking around at the nearby scenery, the two completely forgot they were following Naruto and Sakura. Naruto stopped suddenly as Gaara ran into him.

"Geez, watch what you're doing Gaara. You lost or something? Anyway, we're here! Alright Sakura, let's do this!"

"Bring it knucklehead!"

Naruto and Sakura went full speed into the club and left Gaara and Hinata standing there shocked. Those two were more trouble than they were worth sometimes. Hinata tilted her head up to look at Gaara.

"Should we follow them?"

He shrugged and sighed. "If we don't babysit them, who knows what kind of trouble they'll get into."

Hinata nodded quickly as they entered the club. It was dark, loud, and filled with people around their age, dancing and without a doubt, getting smashed. They gazed around the club in awe. There were so many people, and most of them were already hammered. Gaara tried to spot out Sakura's bubblegum pink hair, but didn't see her anywhere.

Gaara turned to see a very stiff and frightened Hinata. "Hinata, do you see them?"

She nodded her head and raised her index finger to point to the table on the far left. Naruto and Sakura were dancing on a table drinking shots of who knew what. Gaara shook his head. Hinata giggled as she looked up at the irritated red head. "Wait until we tell them what they did."

Gaara couldn't help but chuckle at Hinata's comment. Strangely, he didn't know why she wasn't trying to get with Naruto. She did like him after all; at least that's what he had heard. It didn't make much sense to him, but then again people in general didn't make any sense.

Gaara turned back to look at Hinata. She did look pretty, even if she was bundled up like an Eskimo. She was kind of cute, snuggling in her coat. "What should we do Hinata?"

"I am kind of thirsty." Gaara blinked rapidly. He didn't see her as the type to drink. "Could you get me some water?"

Gaara laughed at himself. Of course she doesn't drink, you idiot. "Come on, I'll buy you a bottle of water."

"Thank you."  
Gaara reached for Hinata's hand to pull her through the crowd to make sure he didn't lose her. As the two maneuvered through the club, bumping into nearby people, they finally reached the bar. Gaara ordered a bottle of water for her and himself. The two sat on bar stools sipping at their water, occasionally glancing at each other.

Hinata couldn't help but wonder why he kept looking at her like that. Was there something wrong? Or maybe there was something in her hair or on her clothes. She quickly rubbed through her hair to check for stray hairs or strange objects that might have gotten in there.

Gaara smiled. She was amusing, ruffling through her hair hunting for something that wasn't there. Why was she doing that anyway? She was confusing, but cute.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as a very tipsy Sakura and Naruto wobbled their way over to them.

Hinata could smell the alcohol on their breath before they even began talking. "Naruto, Sakura, are you two alright?"

Even though he couldn't hear very well with all the noise going on, he could still hear enough to tell she was worried about them.

Gaara grabbed Naruto as Hinata hung on to Sakura. He turned to Hinata. "We should get them back to that condo Jiraya gave to us for the night."

She quickly nodded as the two pulled their very tipsy friends out of the club. Between hunting for those two and waiting for them to get done dancing on table tops and drinking too many shots of who knew what, they managed to kill an hour and a half.

Now that they were out of the way too noisy dance club, they found themselves back in the busy streets of NYC. "Gaara, where is that place again? I don't remember."

Gaara thought to himself while trying to keep Naruto from falling over. "It's over there, almost right next to where the ball drops. We've got plenty of time. Let's get these two back home."

"Right."

Gaara and Hinata began their journey with their two intoxicated friends back to the condo Jiraya and Tsunade had rented for their little excursion. Gaara didn't usually like the adventures Naruto dragged him on, but this one he enjoyed. Maybe it was because of the little Eskimo next to him. She was trying to fight off the urge to punch Sakura in the face as hard as she could from the obnoxious comments she kept making.

While the two wandered through the streets, she kept turning to look at him. "Hinata, would you like to stay awake with me and watch this thing fall?"

She was stunned. Why would he want to do that? "Um, sure, I'd love to. Let's get these two up to the condo so we can enjoy some peace and quiet."

He nodded quickly as they continued on their way. Gaara and Hinata would occasionally make small conversation as they travelled. It was strange, with all this commotion, Gaara would've thought that he would hate this. Surprisingly, he was still enjoying himself. Maybe it was that little Eskimo girl he was with. She didn't really talk much, but still, something about her made him wonder if the two of them would possibly work out.

"Gaara, is something wrong?"

Hinata had startled him by shaking him to try and get his attention. "No, it's nothing."

"Alright, just making sure, do you have the key to the room? I thought Naruto gave it to you before we left for that place."

"No, he still has it." He then turned to Naruto as they reached their room. "Naruto, the key?"

Naruto dug through his pockets and pulled out the door's key and dropped it from his lack of coordination. Gaara scoffed as he picked up the key. "You're even more uncoordinated, I didn't think that was possible."

Hinata giggled quietly to herself as Gaara unlocked the door. The place was beautiful and had a gorgeous view. She drug Sakura to the room they shared as Gaara did the same. Hinata tucked Sakura into bed. Sakura was soon out like a light and snuggling with a nearby pillow mumbling something about Sasuke. Hinata shook her head and walked back out into the living room with a bay window gazing out at the giant ball for the New Year's Eve drop.

She peered down at all the people laughing and partying. They all seemed to be having a great time. Most of them were decked out in funny hats, glasses and even weird shoes. Some of these people were very strange. But she noticed that most of them were also very intoxicated. She giggled to herself again as she thought about Naruto and Sakura's little adventure in the club. She tried to think of what to tell those two in the morning when they woke up with, without a doubt, a very nasty hang over.

Gaara returned shortly after he placed Naruto in his room. She sat down on the couch in front of the window to watch the ball begin to drop soon. Gaara joined her shortly after he surveyed the people below.

"It was very nice of Lady Tsunade to rent this place for us." Hinata shyly stated as she twiddled her fingers near her face. She was still buried in her coat.

"Yes it was. Did you enjoy yourself?"

Gaara asked her as he contemplated on whether or not he wanted to pursue the timid girl next to him or not. He'd never asked a girl out before and had been waiting for something like this for a long time. He knew she liked Naruto, but Gaara liked her. He still hadn't figured out why, but it didn't matter.

"Yes I did, even though we had to babysit for a while." She paused to look at him. He had nice eyes, almost mesmerizing in a way. What should she do? She wanted to like Naruto, but the red head next to her seemed to notice her more than Naruto did.

"Well, while we're waiting for the New Year to come, can I ask you something?"

Her heart must have skipped at least seven beats. What could he possibly want to ask her? Was it about her or about Naruto? Maybe she did something wrong. She shook off those thoughts and muttered to herself about acting silly and looked up at him.

"Sure, what is it?"

He quickly darted his eyes away from her. "Well, I've been thinking about some things lately."

"What is it? Is something wrong?" She asked him curiously as she took another drink of the water from that night club they went to.

Gaara was fiddling with his water bottle and he mumbled something under his breath.

"Gaara are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just wanted to ask you if you would, uh, never mind."

The ball began to drop as an eruption of noise came from below.

"It's fine, you can tell me anything."

He turned back to face her. "Hinata, I've been fighting myself for a while on this. Would you possibly go on a date with me?"

Her face flushed red with embarrassment. He just asked her out and she was speechless. "I would love to."

As the New Year's countdown reached small double digits, Hinata and Gaara moved closer together. She did have small feelings for Naruto, but this was more important now. Closer and closer the two of them got until their faces were only inches apart.

He was going to do this. He was finally going to kiss her after all this time. The loud screams of the people shouting the final ten seconds of the current year was getting louder with each passing second.

She had to remain calm. Things would be okay, just go for it. Just as the countdown reached zero and the ball dropped to the end of the large pole, their lips finally met. It was strange, but it was a good strange. As the two kissed for a moment, it rained confetti from the sky as the New Year had arrived.

"Happy New Year Hinata."

She gazed into the red head's eyes and smiled as she blushed. She snuggled close to him as she closed her eyes in happiness. "Happy New Year Gaara."


End file.
